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Patent Examiner Nathan L. Van Sell

Art Unit 1783 · Stock Material: Laminates, Coated Articles & Photovoltaic Stock · Tech Center 1700 · 246 applications since 2021

⚑ Very Hard: harder than 84% of examiners● Free examiner data

Nathan L. Van Sell is a USPTO patent examiner in Art Unit 1783 (Stock Material: Laminates, Coated Articles & Photovoltaic Stock) who has examined 246 applications in filing years 2021–2025. Examiner Van Sell's allowance rate is 58.5%, below the 82.1% USPTO average; the examiner ranks harder than 84% of examiners. Applicants who held an examiner interview saw a 53.8 percentage-point lift in allowance in 2023.

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Data through March 2026 · Source: USPTO Patent Center (formerly PAIR) · Methodology

Overview

Free
Difficulty: Very Hard
harder than 84% of examiners
Easier84th percentileHarder
Allowance rate vs peers
Examiner Van Sell58.5%
Art Unit 178376.9%
USPTO average82.1%
Allowance rate
58.5%
▼ USPTO avg 82.1%
Applications
246
filing years 2021–2025
First-action allowance
4.9%
allowed on OA #1
Abandoned
24%
share of applications
Avg office actions
2.0
USPTO avg 1.2
Days to first OA
576
▼ USPTO 589
RCE rate
35.0%
USPTO 14.1%
Interview rate
27.2%
USPTO 21.5%

Examiner details

  • Art unit1783 · Stock Material: Laminates, Coated Articles & Photovoltaic Stock
  • Title / gradePrimary Patent Examiner · GS-14
  • Service15 years
  • Phone(571) 270-5152
  • Email[email protected]
  • LocationAlexandria, VA 22314
  • On office actionsVan Sell, Nathan L
Full signatory authority

Examiner Van Sell can allow an application without a supervisory sign-off, which is why an examiner interview can be decisive.

Examines (USPC classes)
428 · Stock Material or Miscellaneous Articles136 · Batteries: Thermoelectric & Photoelectric156 · Adhesive Bonding & Miscellaneous Chemical Manufacture

How to improve your odds with Examiner Van Sell

  • The data favors an interview. Interviewed cases allowed 53.8 points higher in 2023, the largest measured lift on this docket.
  • The timeline runs ahead of the norm. First office action averages 576 days vs the 589-day USPTO norm.
  • Expect a §103. Obviousness is the most-issued rejection (311), and applicants overcame it 57.2% of the time.
  • The data favored an RCE here. Cases with an RCE allowed at 85.7% versus 57.1% without in 2023.
  • Tighter claims have moved faster here. With a 58.5% allowance rate, appropriately scoped independent claims have tended to shorten prosecution.

Historical patterns from this examiner's past cases, shown for general information. This is not legal advice and does not predict the outcome of any specific application. Decisions about interviews, RCEs, and claim strategy should be made with a licensed patent attorney or agent.

Rejection patterns & how they get overcome

Free
§101 Eligibility2 issued · 100.0% overcome
§102 Novelty56 issued · 86.4% overcome
§103 Obviousness311 issued · 57.2% overcome
§112 Disclosure105 issued · 88.7% overcome
Arguments that overcame §103 rejections🔒 Members

REMARKS: Applicant respectfully traverses the rejection under 35 U.S.C. §103. The cited references, whether taken alone or in combination, fail to teach or suggest at least the recited limitation, and the Office has not established an adequate rationale to combine the references as proposed without impermissible hindsight in that ...

Read every winning §103 argumentFull REMARKS, amendments, claim trees & redlines from the file wrappers
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RCE behavior

Allowance after a Request for Continued Examination versus without one, per year. Use it to judge whether an RCE is worth the cost in front of Examiner Van Sell.

YearRCE rateAllowance w/ RCEAllowance w/oDelta
202317.7%85.7%57.1%+28.6pp
202241.1%82.4%59.5%+22.9pp
202156.5%58.6%41.4%+17.2pp

Recent outcomes

Free🔒 Case detail: members
App #TitleOutcomeOAsArguments & redline
17/762900Resin Composition, Resin Composition Film, Cured Film, Hollow Structure Using Same, and Semiconductor DevicePatented3🔒 View
17/948198Polymer Film and Substrate for CommunicationPatented2🔒 View
17/905744Multilayer Cushioning Assemblies for Thermal ManagementPatented1🔒 View
17/913207Aluminum Nitride Structure and Method for Producing SamePatented3🔒 View
See all 246 dispositions with full file-wrapper detailOffice action text, attorney arguments, amendments & claim-by-claim track changes
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Technology & expertise

LaminatesCoated articlesStock materialPhotovoltaic filmsTop CPC: B32B · H01L · C23C
About this examiner. Nathan L. Van Sell has examined 246 applications in Art Unit 1783 (Stock Material: Laminates, Coated Articles & Photovoltaic Stock, Tech Center 1700). The docket skews toward laminates, coated articles, stock material.

Frequently asked questions

What is Examiner Nathan L. Van Sell's allowance rate?
Examiner Van Sell's allowance rate is 58.5%, compared with the 82.1% USPTO average and 76.9% for Art Unit 1783, which places Examiner Van Sell harder than 84% of examiners.
Is Examiner Van Sell a hard examiner?
Yes — Examiner Van Sell ranks harder than 84% of examiners, in the 84th difficulty percentile (very hard), with a 58.5% allowance rate versus the 82.1% USPTO average and more office actions per application than average (2.0 versus 1.2) and a higher RCE rate (35.0% versus 14.1%).
Do examiner interviews help with Examiner Van Sell?
The data says yes. Interviewed applications allowed 53.8 percentage points higher than non-interviewed ones in 2023 (100.0% versus 46.2%).
What is Examiner Van Sell's most common rejection?
§103 obviousness, issued 311 times in the data. Applicants overcame it 57.2% of the time, usually by amendment plus argument.
Is an RCE worth filing with Examiner Van Sell?
Often, yes — every measured year ran the same way. In 2023, applications with an RCE allowed at 85.7% versus 57.1% without one.
How long until the first office action from Examiner Van Sell?
About 576 days on average, versus the 589-day USPTO norm.
How do I contact Examiner Nathan L. Van Sell?
Examiner Van Sell can be reached by phone at (571) 270-5152 or by email at [email protected]. The examiner's direct line also appears on the first page of every office action.

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Statistics are computed by Boundly Prosecution Intel from USPTO Patent Center (formerly PAIR) file wrappers for filing years 2021–2025, updated monthly. Allowance rate (sometimes called grant rate) is the share of disposed applications that issued as patents. Historical data is provided for informational purposes only; past examiner behavior does not guarantee future outcomes, and nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for advice from a licensed patent attorney or agent. Are you Nathan L. Van Sell, or see an error? Request a correction.